Timothy Tyrone Foster, an African-American, is on death row in Georgia for the 1987 murder of an elderly white woman, Queen Madge White. The jury that convicted him was all white. Twenty years after his sentence his attorneys obtained notes the prosecution team took while it was engaged in picking a jury.

The decision comes as a welcome relief to critics who say racial discrimination in jury selection persists across the country some 30 years after the Supreme Court ruled potential jurors cannot be struck because of race.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the 7-1 decision. Justice Clarence Thomas was the only dissenter.

The notes from prosecutors show that potential jurors who were black had a “b” written by their name. Their names were also highlighted. Foster’s lawyers argued the notes reflect the fact the prosecution illegally took race into consideration as it struck every potential black juror. Georgia argued the notes reflect the prosecutors were simply preparing themselves for a racial bias challenge.

“The State’s new argument today does not dissuade us from the conclusion that its prosecutors were motivated in substantial part by race,” Roberts wrote.

“Two peremptory strikes on the basis of race are two more than the Constitution allows,” he added.

The decision does not vacate Foster’s conviction; it opens the door for Foster to go back to the Georgia state court and argue for a new trial.

Monday’s ruling can provide “new life to these so-called Batson claims in the lower courts and the issue of racial bias in jury selection,” said Steve Vladeck, CNN contributor and law professor at American University Washington College of Law, referring to the 1986 case Batson v. Kentucky.

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